FIFA probes 'fixing' of international friendlies
Source: Agencies |
February 16, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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THE credibility of international football friendlies has taken another hit, with FIFA investigating claims that four countries were brought to neutral Turkey for matches suspected of being fixed as part of a betting scam.
Officials from Latvia and Bolivia, Estonia and Bulgaria are working with FIFA regarding the double-header in Antalya last Wednesday that was arranged by an agency.
Curiously, the games produced seven goals that were all scored from penalties, including one that was ordered to be retaken after the initial spot kick was missed.
The Estonian federation said on Monday it had suspicions two weeks earlier, while the Latvian body still does not know the identity of the match officials despite confronting them before kick off and repeatedly asking the agency for information.
FIFA has asked all four federations for their versions of events to help with its investigation.
It's not the first time a friendly arranged by an agency has drawn suspicion. Last September, a fake Togo team lost 0-3 to Bahrain in a friendly arranged by a match agent with Singapore connections.
Neither national team filed a complaint, so FIFA didn't formally investigate suspicions that the host Bahrainis were duped into playing a game they were certain to easily win. Togo banned one of its coaches for his role in the affair.
In an apparently similar case, a team posing as Zimbabwe's first choice admitted throwing matches on its tour of Thailand and Malaysia in December 2009. Players said they received instructions at halftime to ensure the correct results were achieved for the types of wagers that had been staked. As the sports betting industry becomes more popular and complex, UEFA President Michel Platini has called match-fixing as part of illegal coups the biggest danger facing the game.
Officials from Latvia and Bolivia, Estonia and Bulgaria are working with FIFA regarding the double-header in Antalya last Wednesday that was arranged by an agency.
Curiously, the games produced seven goals that were all scored from penalties, including one that was ordered to be retaken after the initial spot kick was missed.
The Estonian federation said on Monday it had suspicions two weeks earlier, while the Latvian body still does not know the identity of the match officials despite confronting them before kick off and repeatedly asking the agency for information.
FIFA has asked all four federations for their versions of events to help with its investigation.
It's not the first time a friendly arranged by an agency has drawn suspicion. Last September, a fake Togo team lost 0-3 to Bahrain in a friendly arranged by a match agent with Singapore connections.
Neither national team filed a complaint, so FIFA didn't formally investigate suspicions that the host Bahrainis were duped into playing a game they were certain to easily win. Togo banned one of its coaches for his role in the affair.
In an apparently similar case, a team posing as Zimbabwe's first choice admitted throwing matches on its tour of Thailand and Malaysia in December 2009. Players said they received instructions at halftime to ensure the correct results were achieved for the types of wagers that had been staked. As the sports betting industry becomes more popular and complex, UEFA President Michel Platini has called match-fixing as part of illegal coups the biggest danger facing the game.
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